Can we increase creative performance through the training of specific brain dynamics?

A new article published on Neuropsychologia by MIC describes an innovative neurofeedback procedure to increase creative cognition

Abstract:

The present article describes an innovative neurofeedback training (NFT) procedure aimed at increasing creative cognition through the enhancement of specific brain activities previously associated with divergent thinking. We designed and tested two NFT protocols based on training alpha and beta EEG oscillations selectively measured over the right parietal region. A total of 80 participants were involved, 40 in the alpha NFT protocol and 40 in the beta NFT protocol. The NFT loop was closed on a video stream that would advance only when oscillation power exceeded a normalized threshold. The total duration of the protocol was two hours in a single day, hence its classification as rapid. Changes in ideational fluency and originality, measured with a divergent thinking task, were compared between participants receiving real video feedback and participants receiving sham feedback. We controlled for individual differences in creative achievement level. Results showed that the protocols were effective at enhancing alpha and beta activities in the targeted area. Differences between the two protocols emerged in their effectiveness at promoting divergent thinking. While no significant changes in originality re- sulted from the rapid alpha NFT, increases in both originality and fluency emerged as a consequence of the rapid beta NFT. These results were particularly evident in participants starting with a low creative achievement level. Possible interpretations and future directions are proposed and discussed.

Exploring the Link Between Mind Wandering, Mindfulness, and Creativity: A Multidimensional Approach

A new article on the Creativity Research Journal by Agnoli, Vannucci, Pelagatti, & Corazza

Even if mind wandering (MW) and mindfulness have traditionally been intended as separate and antithetical constructs, the roles of these 2 mental states on creative behavior were jointly explored in this article. In particular, MW was analyzed in light of a recent approach suggesting a differentiation between deliberate and spontaneous MW, whereas mindfulness was analyzed by distinguishing its 5 different constitutional dimensions: observing, acting with awareness, describ- ing, nonreactivity, and nonjudging. The influence on creativity of these 2 mental states was analyzed using a sample of 77 undergraduate students both on a performance index (i.e., originality) and on a self-report index (i.e., creative achievement). Results showed that MW and mindfulness dimensions predicted creative behavior both alone and in combination, suggesting a complex interdependence between these 2 mental states within the creative thinking process. In particular, the critical importance of distinguishing between deliberate and spontaneous MW was revealed by a final path analysis, which revealed the opposite effects of these 2 dimensions on originality and creative achievement. That is, deliberate MW positively predicted creative perfor- mance, whereas spontaneous MW was negatively associated with such performance. Moreover, the nonreactivity and awareness dimensions of mindfulness, the latter in interaction with deliber- ate MW, emerged as main predictors of response originality. Finally, the describing facet of mindfulness predicted creative achievement both directly and indirectly through an interaction with deliberate MW. The implications emerging from the adoption of a multi-dimensional approach to the analysis of MW and mindfulness in the study of creativity are discussed herein.

Organic Creativity for Well-Being in the Post-Information Society

The editorial dwells upon the technology-driven evolution from the Industrial to the Post-Information Society, indicating that this transition will bring about drastic transformations in our way of living, starting from the job market and then pervading all aspects at both individual and social levels. Great opportunities will come together with unprecedented challenges to living as we have always known it. In this innovation-filled scenario, it is argued that human creativity becomes the distinctive ability to provide dignity at first and survival in the long term. The term organic creativity is introduced to indicate those conditions, attitudes, and actions that bear the potential to be at the same time productive in socio-economic terms and conducive to human well-being. As a consequence, the role of psychologists in an open cooperation with sociologists, economists, computer scientists, engineers and others, will be as central as ever in establishing healthy collaboration modes between humans and machines, and large investments in related multidisciplinary scientific research are advocated to establish organic creativity as a discipline that should permeate every educational level, as well as our professional and everyday lives.

A new discussion on the Marconi Society Blog:

From the first work conducted by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta in 1991 to its entry into the popular lexicon in 2014, blockchain has grown into a young distributed database technology that has the potential to secure and improve transactions from medical records to food delivery to our own personal identity.

As is the case with many new, life-changing technologies, a Marconi Society Young Scholar has a leadership role in defining and applying the new rules. Salman Baset, CTO Security for IBM Blockchain Solutions, was recognized as a Young Scholar in 2008 and has been doing amazing work ever since.

A Short Theory of Failure

Failures are a key concept in design thinking. They are discussed as a resource for learning, whereas fear of fail- ure would be a major block to creative activity. We attempt to clarify the term by reconstructing “failures” as “incon- clusive outcomes” in the Dynamic Creativity Framework. This includes a definition of key terms, the specification of hypotheses, a brief consideration of empirical evidence and discussion of practical implications.

Serendipity and Creativity: an ISA forum

The Institute of Advanced Studies (Istituto di Studi Avanzati, ISA) of the University of Bologna organizes a discussion day on “Serendipity and Creativity“. Giovanni Corazza and Sergio Agnoli will present a talk on the their studies on irrelevance processing:

A keynote address by Giovanni Corazza

This year the meeting will be organized in Rome from 7th to10th June. On Friday June 9, Giovanni Corazza will held a keynote address entitled “Creativity Principles: How to Challenge the State of the Art“.

Is creativity in the eye of the beholder? Conceptual, methodological and practical reflections

by

Vlad Glaveanu

Bologna, June 5, 2017

On Monday June 5, Vlad Glaveanu (Aalborg University) will held a seminar entitled “Is creativity in the eye of the beholder? Conceptual, methodological and practical reflections“. In the seminar, organized by the University of Bologna and the Marconi Institute for Creativity, Glaveanu will discuss the long-debated issue of creativity evaluation in the light of the most recent theoretical approaches on creative thinking.